Telgi Scam 2003: The Harshad Mehta scam rocked the stock market and the Indian economy about three decades ago in 1992. There was an outcry in India due to a scam of Rs 5000 crores. But, do you know that a scam 6 times bigger than Harshad Mehta was done by a person selling fruits and vegetables on the road. Now the story of this person is going to come in front of the audience through a web series.
The Telgi Story Financial Fraud
The Telgi Story refers to the scandal involving Abdul Karim Telgi, a mastermind of a massive counterfeit stamp paper racket in India. This scam came to light in the early 2000s and is considered one of the largest financial frauds in the country’s history.
The scam, which involved the production and sale of fake stamp papers, is estimated to have cost the government over Rs 30,000 crore (US$3.9 billion).
Telgi was born in a small village in Karnataka in 1956. He started his career as a fruit seller and then moved into the travel business. During this he started doing illegal work. He started selling fake immigration documents to people looking for work in Gulf countries. He was arrested in 1991 on charges of forgery and cheating. But, going to jail proved to be a big turning point in Telgi’s life, because from here he got the idea to execute the stamp paper scam.
The Fake Stamp Paper Story
Reportedly, Abdul Karim Telgi met a person in jail, who told him about the stamp paper. In those days, stamp paper was required for many legal requirements, but due to less supply, their demand was high. After knowing all these things, Telgi made up his mind to make fake stamp paper and after being released from jail, he has done this work.
He came to know that there is a printing press near the railway station of Nashik, where stamps are printed. What was it then, somehow Telgi bought the old machine in the auction and bought and repaired it. After this, with the help of some people, started printing fake stamps. However, selling them after printing fake stamps was a big challenge, but for this, Telgi hired some educated people and got fake stamp paper sold through them.
Abdul Karim Telgi Scam 2003
Abdul Karim Telgi sold fake stamp papers to common people as well as to banks, brokerage companies and insurance companies. He also made fake stamp papers as well as judicial court fee stamps, notary stamps. It is said that he sold fake stamp papers through his network in many cities for about 10 years and earned billions of rupees.
He was able to do this because he had access to high-quality printing presses and he was able to bribe government officials to look the other way.
Telgi’s scam was able to go undetected for many years because he operated on a massive scale. He had a network of over 100 people working for him, and he was able to produce fake stamp papers that were indistinguishable from the real thing.
Finally, in 2000, the Bengaluru police intercepted a truck full of fake stamp papers and then the layers of this scam began to unfold in a sequential manner. Abdul Karim Telgi was arrested in 2001. During the interrogation, Telgi revealed many secrets. During this, it was learned that he used to pay huge amounts to many policemen and leaders to support him.
Abdul Karim Telgi faced multiple charges related to forgery, fraud, and corruption. The investigation revealed the extent of the network he had built and the deep-seated corruption that facilitated his operation.
Abdul Karim Telgi Scam Amount
In 2007, Abdul Karim Telgi was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the court and several of his associates were sentenced to jail terms. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 202 crore on Abdul Karim Telgi. He died in 2017 due to organ failure during his sentence in jail. It is said that from 1992 to 2003, Abdul Karim Telgi had done a fake stamp paper scam of Rs 30,000 crores.
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